The Recruiters
by Sun E. Day
Summary: Quinn and Scout are twin mutants that are two percent butterfly. They have been genetically enhanced for years and now they are ready. Combined they make the ideal team for the mission. Their only problem is the mission; kidnap children for the whitecoats
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my second Max fan fiction. I don't own the idea. Enjoy. **

**Scout's POV**

I drummed my fingers against the bars of the cage, waiting impatiently to see if Quinn was alright. She had been taken back for testing about an hour ago. I sat back on my haunches, rocking nervously on my heels.

The lab door creaked and I crawled toward the cage door. Dr. Hagen walked in followed by Quinn. Her normally tan skin was stark white and her gray eyes were frazzled. She gave me a weak half smile and ran her fingers through her knotted auburn hair.

Hagen grabbed her bony arm and unceremoniously shoved her into the cage next to mine. After checking the lock on the door, Hagen stomped out, slamming the door behind her.

I grasped Quinn's hand through the bars. It was frozen, literally.

"What did they do to you?" I gasped when I felt her cold skin.

"It's nothing, really. No IVs or injections. Just temperature tests, that's all," she choked out through blue lips. "I think they're trying to make me immune to the cold. It's not working." She gave a shaky laugh which I did not return.

"What do you think they'll do to me?" I asked, terrified. "I'm due any second now." As if on cue, the door banged open and a flustered young man in a pristine white lab coat burst in.

"Experiment 25," he called out. Instinctively, everyone who was able to pressed their left arm against their bars. A number was tattooed there so we could always be identified.

I already knew it was me. You couldn't be in this lab for fourteen years and not know your own number. I knew Quinn's too; 26. I didn't say a word as he prowled along the other cages, looking for the number.

When he stopped in front of me, he glared, as if he knew I had been holding back on him. I blinked innocently back at him, refusing to wince at his hostile gaze.

He unlocked my cage door and I climbed out. Just to bug him, I pretended to cluelessly stare into space, keeping my head scrunched in like a turtle, making it impossible for him to clip the tracking collar around my neck. He scowled and loudly cleared his throat. I smirked to myself, and feigned another innocent look at him. He sneered and I obediently relaxed my position. His brow did not soften as he clipped the metal band around my neck. It was a tracking collar, so if I tried to run and hide they could always find me. It could only be removed by a specific key.

"Woof, woof!" I sarcastically barked. "You forgot my leash." His scowl deepened and I heard Quinn snicker.

The lighthearted atmosphere crumbled quickly as he grasped me roughly by the arm and, leaving my cage door ajar, dragged me to the lab door. I caught Quinn's frightened gaze before he swept me from the room.

**Quinn's POV**

I watched Scout get dragged out of the room with a sense of dread in my stomach. She was my little sister and I couldn't do anything to stop this torture. Once she was gone, I tried to imagine what they were going to do to her.

I let my filthy auburn hair cover my shoulders to warm them. Hospital gowns don't offer much coverage or warmth. Careful, so as not to destroy the paper gown, I tore slits in the back. I cautiously let my blue wings extend.

They were iridescent black on the outer edge and the inside is a turquoise blue with a darker blue zigzag along the edge of the black and the turquoise.

Scout's wings were olive green in the center and along the outer edge. In the middle of the two is a mint green stripe and right between the olive on the outside and the mint is a layer of the same shimmery black. The very bottoms of hers were a minty turquoise.

I wrapped them around me for warmth, but butterfly wings aren't made for that. Yep, we're butterflies, (and before you ask, no, we're not fairies! You'd be surprised how many times that's come up…)

My wings reminded me of the experiments and my thoughts turned back to Scout in the testing lab. I shivered through my paper-thin wings.

Despite my frozen body, this shiver had nothing to do with the cold.

**Scout's POV**

The man led me through the maze of hallways to fast for even me to memorize them. By the time we had reached the lab, my head was spinning and I was dizzy beyond belief. He roughly shoved me in where I was immediately seized by three new white coats.

The lead one had bleached blond hair pulled back in a tight bun. Her icy blue eyes stared me down. The man on the left had black hair and sharp angular facial features. His eyes were just as dark as his hair and probably his heart.

The one on the right was obliviously a new one. With her plump cheeks and big brown eyes, she looked as if she had never witnessed the horror of what truly went on in here. She had her short brown hair held back with a lavender headband.

"Thank you, Clark," the blond lady said, curtly. It was an obvious dismissal. I looked around my new surroundings. The floor was covered with the same cool light green linoleum tile as the rest of the hellhole. The wall were painted a stark white and there were lab tables all around me.

"I'm soon-to-be Dr. Charlotte Hayes…" the newbie began, talking to me like she would an ignorant child. I cut her off with a harsh laugh.

"Why bother. I'm just going to hate your guts afterward. It's probably best that I don't know your name," I spat out. She looked surprised, as if she hadn't expected me to speak.

The blue-eyed women pushed Charlotte aside and, without speaking, shoved me back into a hard plastic chair. 'Martha,' her name tag read. 'Marty,' I thought grimly. I'd heard stories about this insane lady. Not very good stories.

The man, whom I later discovered was named Warren, busily prepared something behind me.

I watched Charlotte's face as I heard Warren approach from behind. I didn't wince when I felt him inject something in my arm. It hurt like someone was stabbing my arm repeatedly with knives, but I'd felt worse and my gaze remained locked on Charlotte and she flinched.

"For this to work, you must remain very still," he said in a curt cold voice. "This protection or what we hope is protection will only last a few minutes and will only protect your arm." I felt cold hands on my shoulders and I remained stock still as Marty's manicured talons bit into my shoulders. I couldn't have moved if I tried.

"Someone needs to trim her claws…" I winced as she tightened her grip, ignoring my retort.

Warren spun around again, a lighted candle in his hand. He brought it closer and closer to me. Then all at once, Marty clamped one hand over my mouth and my arm became engulfed in flames.

Even with Marty's hand, my screech of shock was not completely muffled. I fought until I realized something: it didn't hurt. My arm was on fire and it didn't hurt. I watched it, horrified. There wasn't a mark on my skin. No ash, no charred flesh, nothing.

"Yes!" Marty hissed her voice full of malicious joy. I continued to stare shocked at my arm

The bucket of ice cold water jolted me to my senses. My arm was normal again, no flames in sight.

"Good, Charlotte," Marty commended, "Now, Warren, prepare the full dose." Warren nodded and busied himself with prepping another syringe.

I still sat there, shocked, by what I had just witnessed. If I'm not mistaken, they are trying to make me fire proof.

"Marty," Warren warned and Marty carefully restrained my arms in case I tried to resist and she signaled Charlotte to put a hand over my mouth. Before she could, I quickly let my anger free.

"I'm not going to scream, _doctor_. I'm not a baby, but I want you to know that I despise you with all of my heart and if I get the chance, I won't hesitate to kill every one of you," I screamed to his face.

He shook with anger and grabbed my hair in his meaty hand and yanked on it so hard my eyes watered. But, as promised, I didn't make a sound. I kept my face expressionless as he glared at me.

"No attitude, missy, or your sister will face the consequences," he sneered, releasing my hair. That shut me up. I can't let anything happen to Quinn. I didn't say a word, but I did follow Warren with my eyes and stare him down when he approached, syringe in hand.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered under his breath and nodded to Char, who clamped her hand on my mouth with grim determination. Forcefully, I bit her hand and she drew back, examining her palm. Warren glared at her, but didn't bother to signal her back over.

Then, all in one motion, he plunged the syringe in my arm.

My scream rang through the room.

**A/N: Cliffhanger! I will update soon and please, please, please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry about the wait. Chapter two!**

**Quinn's POV**

A scream rang out from down the hall; a scream as familiar as my own.

"SCOUT!" I hollered and crawled to the cage door. I began to rattle the door hoping that something, anything would come lose and I could get out.

Nothing did. The door to the room banged open and a lady stood in the doorway. Her brown hair was streaked with gray and her brown eyes watched my struggle with the door.

She strode over to my door and took out a key. Then, she clucked her tongue and two men entered. Well, maybe "men" isn't the right word. They were short, about five foot, but they looked terrible. Their skin was black, midnight black, and paneled in hard armor-like shells along their bodies.

Their arms ended not in hands, but in pincers and arched above each of their heads, was a stinger. Their chests were bare and they wore a pair of jeans and no shoes.

The real horror was their faces. They each had four eyes, two on either side of their faces. Their mouths were twitchy and tiny. They were bald with red tattoos on their head and chest.

"These are the Scorps," Dr. Hagen said.

"Creative…" I muttered under my breath. I internally smiled. Scout was rubbing off on me.

"Don't back sass me, young lady. I could kill you and scout in a single second," she threatened and the Scorps raised their stingers threateningly. I shivered. Their creepy faces were going to haunt me forever now.

I didn't answer her and a slow smile crept along her face. She knew the effect those words had on me. She unlocked my cage and gestured for me to follow her. I did under careful watch from the Scorps.

She led me down the hall into a small light brown room with two swivel-back chairs. The Scorps stood just outside the door, guarding.

"We won't kill your sister yet because we could use both of you. We have been having a shortage of…subjects to experiment on, and you could solve that problem." she began.

"And if I don't?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"If you don't want to, your sister is history. So, under penalty of your sister's life, do you agree to do anything for us and to serve us?" she asked me, openly smirking, as if she knew my answer. Which she did.

"Yes," I whispered. It was as if I had lost control of my voice and had unwilling said it. I was terrified that they would hurt Scout. A shudder ran through me, Scout scream echoing again and again in my eardrums. I couldn't let that happen to her. I'm responsible for her and if I have to join the bad guys to save her, I will. But this threat on our lives showed how truly desperate they were for followers and experiments. That small thought allowed me to give a weak smile.

"What are you smiling at?" she barked, disgruntled that her attempts to anger me were not working.

I didn't answer, but inside I thought that if they needed followers that badly, then it would be unlikely for them to kill us. Not many other mutants care about each other enough to join the scientists to protect them.

But if they did decide to kill me, I wasn't going down without a fight.

**Scout's POV**

I screamed again before restraining myself. I looked weak if I screamed and if I looked weak, I'd be an easier target.

I bit my lip as the fire from my arm spread through my body and it engulfed me. It felt like a million knives being driven into my body. Soon, the pain overwhelmed me and my vision faded to black.

I woke to someone slapping my face over and over again. Through bleary, half-closed eyes, I saw Charlotte desperately trying to awaken me. I blinked sluggishly and was about to straighten up when I heard angry voices. I stayed "asleep" to eavesdrop.

Marty and Warren were arguing in a corner. I caught a few snippets of what they were saying.

"…promised her nothing would happen to it. That's subject 25 for God's sake!" Marty was exclaiming, while Warren listened sourly. Aw...they cared about me, even if I was an 'it.' The next part was too low for me to hear, but I caught the next sentence.

"Look, if it doesn't awaken, there is always 26," Warren argued. I sat up fast at the mention of torturing Quinn. Almost immediately, Charlotte interrupted their conversation.

"She's awake!" she exclaimed and the two scientists looked relieved. At the look on their faces, I realized that they weren't done with me.

"You can rest for about two minutes while I prepare a batch for the wings and so Dr. Martha can prepare the tests," he said, as unkind and uncaring as ever. I leaned back in the chair with a sigh and turned to Charlotte.

"How long was I out?" I asked, knowing that she, unlike the others, would answer me.

"About a half-hour," she replied, avoiding my gaze. Wow, she changed in the hour we'd been here. Maybe she would fit in here. That's just what the world needs, another crazy scientist. Great.

Warren brought another full syringe up to me and I regarded him coldly.

"Wing," he barked and, unwilling, I complied. As he injected the fluid, I braced myself for the pain. It wasn't as bad as before and it was only my wings that hurt.

After the burning sensation died down, they continued to throb, but I gritted my teeth and didn't show it. Thank the Lord that I didn't pass out again.

Marty walked out from behind what looked a huge box. This machine seemed to be mostly made of metal that, considering the current context was probably fireproof. One of the walls, however, was made of glass with what appeared to be a door handle on it. Inside there were little holes all along the metal sides. The whole scary device was just large enough for a person to stand comfortably inside.

Why you would want to, I have no idea, but it sure was possible. And, considering my current company, that was a brand-new torture device to be used on, you guessed it, me.

Warren roughly grabbed my arm and began to drag me over to this magical device, but Marty stopped him.

"Test with smaller scale first. We don't want her charred to ashes," she exclaimed, hauling me back to the chair. He nodded with a clenched jaw. It was clear these two did not get along. Maybe they could argue the whole time and not get anything done until their lab time with me expired.

Apparently, luck wasn't on my side today. Heck, luck was never on my side any day. Warren went along with Marty's suggestion. I slumped back down into the chair as Warren grabbed a lighter from a side table. He held it to my hospital gown and it caught fire. As it slowly burnt to ashes around me, I didn't feel a thing. I felt like a freaking human candle.

Now, all I had on was a one-piece jumpsuit type-thing. It fitted tightly around my throat and was sleeveless for easy injections. The bottom was low cut shorts and the whole strangling contraption was made of flame-resistant, water-proof rubber. It clung to you and I despised it.

"It works," Warren openly smirking at Marty's back. His face returned to a hard line as Marty spun around from facing the box. He grasped my arm tightly and hauled me over to it. He not so gently placed me inside and slammed the door. He locked tightly.

Marty peered in the glass and watched me carefully; her eyes alight with excitement, and…what looked like malice.

"Do it!" she cried and Warren cocked his head to the side and threw the switch.

**A/N: Cliffy, kinda. Review!**


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